A new job
by Jazz and Annie
Summary: A 17 year old girl named Tori Ikezowa (OC) applies for a job at holby city E.D. This story looks at her first few days as she adjusts to life with work. Character description: Brown, wavy hair, purple dip dye, brown eyes, recovering from anorexia, was a level 10 gymnast before she quit to take the job. I plan on updating daily, sorry if I miss a day or two :).
1. Chapter 1

Tori sighed as her alarm clock went off, she was only 17 and had to get up at 6:30. The reason for this was simple, it was the day she was going to apply for a job at holby city E.D. She had called there the previous night asking if she could apply. A decision was made for her to go in at 8:00.

Throwing her bag into the car, she set off at 7:30, she arrived with 15 minutes to spare but went in as there was a long queue at reception. when the line was gone she waited patiently at the desk for Louise who was on the phone to what sounded like a raging drunk. Louise slammed the phone down and looked at Tori, secretly trying to guess her age.

"Dr Hanna's office please" said Tori sweetly, Louise was surprised at how polite Tori was.  
"Down there and to your right" said Louise indicating where to go.

When Tori got there she took a deep breath before knocking on the door, there was an instant reply.  
"Come in" Zoe instructed.  
Tori did so and took a seat opposite Zoe "You're Tori Ikezowa and you're here to apply for a job right?" Zoe was careful not to sound too annoyed as her day hadn't exactly been great.  
"Yes, sorry if I'm a bit early" Tori was still nervous but didn't show it, she can be very good at hiding her emotions when she wants to be.  
"Oh, it's perfectly fine" said Zoe who was now feeling more relaxed, for some reason, Tori seemed to make Zoe feel happier.

Zoe then passed Tori some forms and told her to fill them out, she did so then passed them back to Zoe who took a quick glance before putting them safely in her desk drawer.  
"If you like I can show you where everything is and hopefully introduce you to some of the other staff here" said Zoe,  
Tori was surprised at this and replied with "But I don't know if I got the job yet",  
Zoe knew that she was going to get the job as it was her choice and she really liked Tori already, "Trust me, you will" Zoe told Tori happily.  
Tori smiled at this and said "Thanks, I have to admit that this is going better than I thought it would".  
"Right then, lets go" said Zoe.

They both got out of their seats and headed for the door, after Tori had been shown most of the hospital, the only place left was the staffroom. As they walked in they saw Connie just sat on a chair, staring into space.  
"Are you ok?" Zoe questioned Connie, she didn't move.  
Tori and Zoe went and sat by Connie, she quickly got up and stormed out.  
"Was she ok?" Tori asked, even though Tori had never met Connie before, she could sense that something was wrong.

Just then Tori's phone alarm went off.  
"Oh, sorry, I have to go now to get home in time to feed my dog" she explained  
"Ok, do you know the way out?" Zoe asked,  
"I'll be fine" replied Tori, she wasn't in that much of a rush but still needed to be home on time.  
"Do you want to start work tomorrow, you can if you want or you can wait until Monday?" Zoe asked this only because she was curious to see how exited Tori was about starting her new job.  
"I'll start tomorrow, what time?" Tori was really exited about starting work as she lived alone and needed something to keep her occupied apart from her dog Blu.  
"Come in tomorrow at 8:00 and we can sort it out properly then" Zoe replied.  
"Ok bye" Tori said half out the door already,  
"Bye" Zoe called after her.

When Tori was outside, she put her bag on the nearest bench and stepped away, making sure there was enough space to do what she was about to do. Once she was satisfied that there was enough space, she did a round-off, back handspring, back layout. This was the only way she could show her excitement without screaming. Tori ignored the cheers and claps from various strangers and members of the hospital staff and took a seat on the bench next to her bag.

She decided to search for her car keys in her bag and after just 20 seconds, as if she was waiting, Connie appeared and sat next to Tori.  
"I saw those flips" said Connie,  
Tori jumped as she didn't notice that Connie was next to her before replying with "I was a level 10 gymnast before I had to quit to take this job"  
"It must be amazing, you know, being able to do all those skills" said Connie who was now edging away from Tori as if she didn't want to scare her.  
"It is" said Tori who had now found her car keys, "Well, I have to go now, bye".  
Connie didn't reply and just walked back inside the E.D.

Tori started her car and began the long journey home, she was really pleased at how well her day had gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Tori woke up early the next morning at exactly 6:30, today was the day that she was officially starting work as a doctor. She was really exited about starting work and felt like nothing could ruin her day, that was until she checked her phone messages...

Tori saw that she had 2 new messages from her ex boyfriend, even before she read the messages, she was already tearing up. He was the one that did this to her, he was the one that made her starve herself just so she would look 'prettier'. She opened the messages only to find death threats, the first one saying 'I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE AND I KNOW WHERE YOU WORK, I WILL KILL YOU' she couldn't even bear to look at the second message.

She tried to push it to the back of her mind, sliding her phone in her bag and getting ready. It was almost 7:30, she decided to put her hair into a quick fishtail braid and headed out to the car. Arriving at the E.D with this time only 5 minutes to spare, she walked in with a sad look on her face, avoiding all eye contact.

When she got to Zoe's office, she knocked before walking in and taking a seat opposite Zoe once again. Zoe could see the hurt look on her face.  
"What's up?" Zoe asked sounding more concerned that she would've liked too.  
"Oh, I just um... got some texts this morning" Tori explained trying to hold back tears,  
"From who and why does that make you so sad?" Zoe would understand if Tori didn't want to speak about it but she still really wanted to know.  
"Just from an ex boyfriend" Tori said sadly, then added "Threats".  
Zoe walked over to Tori and passed her a tissue as she was now crying, "How serious is it?" Zoe only realised after she said it but it did sound a bit too nosy. Tori reached in her bag and got out her phone and passed it to Zoe.

After a short while, Zoe had opened the second unopened text and saw that it said 'YOU DESERVE TO DIE!'  
Zoe then passed the phone back to Tori who surprisingly didn't even look like she had been crying.  
"You can take a day off if you'd like" Zoe looked at Tori waiting for an answer,  
Tori thought for a moment then replied with "No thanks, I need something to keep me busy"  
"Ok, if you check the rota by reception then you'll see when your shifts are" Zoe said still with concern in her voice.  
"Thanks, I appreciate this" said Tori,  
"What?" questioned Zoe.  
"Having someone who actually listens to me" she replied.

When Tori checked the rota, she wrote on her hand '8:10 - 10:00', this was her first shift, knowing that she was going to star her work properly made her forget about the stupid texts. Just as she was writing more times on her arm, Louise put her hand on the phone and said to Tori, "It's for you".  
"Hello" said Tori down the phone,  
"Come to my office, I want to talk to you" said Zoe.  
Tori was surprised that Zoe had called for her "Ok, what's it about?" she said sounding very curious  
"I just have some paperwork for you to do" Zoe lied.  
Tori hung up the phone and headed towards Zoe's office, once she got there, she walked in to find no paperwork on the desk.

She was about to turn and leave when Zoe said "Just stay and talk, please, I'm worried about you",  
"Why are you worried about me?" asked Tori who was now getting slightly agitated.  
Zoe thought for a moment before saying "Has this ex boyfriend ever bothered you before?",  
"Zoe, can you please just drop it?" said Tori sounding very annoyed now.  
"Ok but just for now" said Zoe, she knew that this was all Tori would be telling her for now and decided to leave it for a while.  
"Thank you" said Tori walking out of the office, before she knew it, the time was 10:00, it was time for her break.

Tori knew that Zoe would be looking for her and she still didn't want to talk, so she headed up to the roof, she had 30 minutes and she knew that it took 5 to get up there. She planned to stay up on the roof for 10 minutes, but only because she wanted something from the cafeteria.  
After 10 minutes up on the roof, Tori headed back down and into the cafeteria to get something like a cold drink. She decided to sit by cubicles and drink the coke she had gotten.

Connie walked by and decided to sit with Tori, "Did you have a nice shift?" she asked  
"Yeah, surprisingly good even though I got kicked in the leg by an alcoholic" relied Tori, she wasn't lying, she did enjoy her shift despite getting kicked.  
"Good" replied Connie, after a short pause she added "Can I tell you something, something that has to stay secret?"  
"Sure, I'm good at keeping secrets, honest" said Tori.  
"Ok, well first of all, what would you do if your boss hit you?" said Connie looking Tori in the eyes,  
"Well I would probably tell someone who I trust or someone who could get that person fired" Tori was now getting worried about Connie.  
"What if no-one could get them fired?" asked Connie,  
"Did someone hit you?" questioned Tori who was now really suspicious about the whole situation.  
Connie thought for a moment about whether to tell Tori or not, after a while, she looked at Tori and said "Yes".

After a long time Tori tried to make the silence less awkward by saying "Do you want to tell me anything else?, you don't have to right now"  
"Maybe later" said Connie who then walked off in the direction of the exit. Tori decided to leave it as she knew what it as like when people wanted you to talk to them, she looked at her watch and saw it was 10:30, she returned to Zoe's office and got some paperwork to do in the staffroom.


	3. Chapter 3

Half an hour later, Tori had finished the paperwork and was closing the staffroom door when she closed the door on her thumb.  
"OW!" she yelled then bit her lip to stop herself from swearing.

She quickly went to Zoe's office and returned the paperwork,  
"Thanks for helping out with paperwork" said Zoe, she was in the middle of debating whether or not she should ask Tori more questions about the texts.  
"No problem, oh and I closed the staffroom door on my thumb, could you just look at it for me?" Tori was trying not to sound hurt now,  
"Sure, lets go to cubicles so it can be looked at properly" said Zoe then added "how bad did it hurt?".  
While they were on their way to cubicles Tori said "Not the most painful thing I've ever done".

After a while the x-ray results had come back and Zoe told Tori "It's not broken or fractured but it will need an ice pack".  
"Ok, thanks" said Tori who was heading towards the staffroom as she knew that there would be an ice pack in there.  
Zoe went with her and told her to not put any pressure on it, when they got there, Tori quickly got an ice pack and returned to her work as she was supposed to be working.  
Just as Tori was waking out the door Zoe called after her "My office on your next break".  
Tori knew that there was no escaping this one. She headed to cubicles as she was told that they needed help with a boy with a broken wrist. She quickly put a pot on the boy's arm and discharged him as his mum was now there.

Tori looked at her watch, she had 20 minutes for a break now and she knew where she had to be, she arrived at Zoe's office, still with the ice pack. She took a seat this time on the sofa, Zoe came and sat next to her but waited a while before saying "Do you want to talk about anything?".  
Tori replied with "First of all no, he has never bothered me before",  
Zoe then said "Oh, anything else?".  
Tori thought for a moment then said "Well, um... what would you do if someone said they had been hit by their boss but they didn't want you to tell?",  
completely ignoring the question, Zoe asked "Is this anyone in particular we're talking about?"  
Tori immediately said "No, just a situation I was thinking about".  
"oh" replied Zoe, "Well I think you should tell that person that they need to call the police."  
"Thanks" said Tori who then looked at her watch before adding "I have to go now, see you later"  
"Ok, bye" said Zoe, she still thought that Tori was talking about someone and not just the situation but she decided not to push it.

After returning to yet again another set of paperwork, Tori decided that she would do it on the roof, it made her feel better up there, mostly because it was less crowded. When she was finished with it, she noticed that she had spent 2 hours up there as this set of paperwork was bigger. She checked the times written on her hand and saw that she had a 15 minute break, she stood on the edge of the building, trying to see if she could see her house. Just minutes later, she felt herself being pushed then pulled back again, her first reaction was to scream, so she did. When she turned around and saw Connie standing there, she smiled and said "Not funny", Connie clearly thought it was as she replied with "Saved your life".

Tori sat down on the 'wall' around the roof and said to Connie "So what brings you here?",  
Connie stopped smiling and said "It's about our talk yesterday".  
"Oh, well do you want to tell me anything else yet?" asked Tori who now wasn't smiling either,  
Connie quickly replied with "No, I just wanted to say thanks, not many people would have actually listened to me".  
"You're welcome" replied Tori, she understood what it was like when no-one listened to you.  
Connie then left to return back to work but Tori stayed as she had 5 minute left on her break, she knew it took 5 minutes to get down from the roof but she figured that she could just slide down the banister.


	4. Chapter 4

***warning - talks about an eating disorder, not very** **detailed but mentioned* **

* * *

Tori headed downstairs and just slid down the banister instead of walking, she decided to do it more often despite all the confused looks she got. When she got downstairs, she realised that it was time for her to go home, just as she was walking out the door, she got stopped by Zoe.  
"By any chance do you have a dog?" she asked,  
Tori was confused by this as it was completely random "Yeah, a German shepherd why?",  
"Oh, my daughter Ellie told me that she wants a dog" Zoe replied.  
Tori was still a bit unsure of it but agreed happily then said "Why will my dog help this?"  
"Ellie wants a big dog but there weren't any to look at when we went to the dog shelter so I thought she would like to look after a dog for a couple of hours, if that's ok" Zoe really wanted to get Ellie a dog but she needed to see if she was ready.  
Tori thought for a moment before saying "I'll bring Blu in tomorrow",  
"Thank you so much, see you tomorrow" Zoe said before turning to leave.

Tori unlocked her front door and walked inside to be greeted by Blu.  
"Have you been lonely boy?" Tori asked almost expecting an answer,  
Blu ran into the kitchen and returned with his bowl in his mouth.  
"I know what you want, come on" said Tori as she gave Blu some pedigree dog food and a biscuit.

Early the next morning, Tori got ready for work but this time, she packed some dog biscuits and got Blu ready. She set off at the same time, as usual. When she got there, she was greeted by Zoe and Ellie. Ellie ran up to Blu when Tori had let him out of the car, he sat in front of her and held out his paw, Ellie laughed happily and shook it.  
She then turned to Tori and said "Thank you for letting me look after him!"  
"No problem, he needs to get out of the house more anyway" Tori was surprised at how polite Ellie was.  
Zoe mouthed thank you to Tori before leading Ellie and Blu to the staffroom.

Tori had decided to work all morning so she could have a longer break at lunch. She looked at her watch and saw that it was 11:50, she had until 12:50. When she had checked her phone, she reminded herself never to skip breakfast and work all morning again. She headed to get a drink from Honey and maybe something to eat, when she got there, she just decided to get a drink and leave the food.  
"Coffee please" she told Honey,  
Before going to get her a drink, Honey closed her eyes and tried to focus on something before saying "You're worried about someone, I can tell."  
Tori smiled at this because she knew it was true, "How did you know" she asked.  
"I can't tell you that, it's a secret" said Honey before returning with her drink,  
Tori smiled yet again, she thought Honey was nice and sweet "Thanks for the drink" said Tori while getting a £2 coin out her pocket then adding "Keep the change". She turned to leave and decided to get some fresh air and go outside.

A few minutes later she finished her drink and decided to stop herself from being bored by doing various gymnastics combinations. It didn't stop her boredom, while looking around, she spotted a tree that she figured must have been planted on the hospital grounds around 80 years ago. Suddenly, Tori had an idea, she walked up to the tree and picked a branch that looked strong enough before doing a bar skill to get herself up.

After about 10 minutes of sitting on the tree, she saw Zoe sit on one of the benches. Tori jumped down from the tree almost giving Zoe a heart attack,  
"Don't ever do that again! Zoe exclaimed,  
"Sorry, I'm just really bored" said Tori who was struggling to hold in her laughter.  
"In all seriousness, what have you eaten today?, you're looking pale" Zoe could now see that Tori was no longer laughing,  
"Um..." Tori tried to think then said "Nothing, just a cup of coffee".  
Zoe gave her a stern look before saying "Don't ever do that again either",  
"Sorry, I'm just not hungry" said Tori who really didn't want Zoe to lecture her about healthy eating.  
Zoe disappeared inside after telling Tori "Wait there, I'm going to get you something",  
Tori did as she was told and waited for Zoe to return.

Zoe came back in 5 minutes with a pack of biscuits and a leaflet, "Eat these and look at this" said Zoe as she passed Tori the things,  
Tori ate the biscuits while reading the leaflet, not actually paying full attention to what it was. when she had finished the biscuits, she turned to Zoe and said "I don't have an eating disorder anymore".  
"Anymore?" questioned Zoe who was shocked at this,  
"I used to have anorexia because people always told me that I needed to be thinner for someone my height and age, but I'm fine now" Tori didn't really want to explain this as it brought back bad memories for her.  
"Just think about going to the clinic, please, I don't want to see you get hurt" said Zoe before walking off.

Tori shoved the leaflet in her bag and went inside, She was still extremely bored and had 45 minutes left until her shift. She sat in the staffroom playing games on her phone when she got a text from her ex she opened it but didn't really want to know what it said 'I'M COMING FOR YOU!'. Tori threw her phone in anger, it hit the wall with a loud thud which cracked the screen really badly.

Connie entered the staffroom and saw Tori sat on the sofa with her phone in her hand, the screen almost falling off.  
"What was that?" she asked thinking it sounded more like a fight than a cracked phone,  
"Oh, I just dropped my phone" said Tori trying to sound less angry than she was.  
Connie gave her a confused look "Truth?" she asked knowing that if the phone was dropped then it wouldn't be that bad,  
Tori stared at the floor and said "I got a text from an ex boyfriend who wants to kill me." She paused before adding "So I threw my phone at the wall".  
"Do you want to talk about it?" Connie asked even though she knew the answer would be no,  
Tori sighed then said "No thanks, Zoe's already been pestering me about what I ate today and giving me leaflets about weight clinics."  
Connie replied with "Last year she did the same to me, she told me I was too thin and that I needed to go to a weight clinic",  
"I think she worries too much." Tori knew that Zoe worried for a reason and appreciated it but she still thought that sometimes she could care a bit too much.  
"Just go to the stupid clinic, it will help, trust me." Connie could see that Tori still wasn't 100% sure so she added "Zoe will stop bothering you about it as well."  
"Ok, I'll go but only because I don't want to be bothered about it anymore" said Tori with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Do you have anything else to text off?" asked Connie changing the subject.  
"Yeah, I have an IPad at home" said Tori wondering why this was important,  
Connie got some paper out of her pocket and wrote down the email address to her IPad "Here, add this to your contact list and text me if you ever need anything or if you just want to talk".  
"Thanks" said Tori "I'll text you later to see if it works, I haven't used my IPad in about 2 years so it might take me a while to find the charger",  
"Ok, well I've got to go so I'll talk to you later" said Connie who had only just noticed the time.  
"Bye" Tori called after her as Connie was already halfway out the door.

Tori returned back to her work feeling really dizzy.  
"You ok?" asked Robyn who was working with her,  
"Yeah , fine thanks" said Tori even though she could barely stand up without falling over. Just then, everything went black, the last thing Tori heard was the thud of her body hitting the cold, hard ground.

When she woke up, everything was blurry, Tori blinked about 100 times before she could see properly. She saw that Robyn was standing next to her bed "What happened?" asked Tori while failing to sit up as the pain in her head got worse.  
"You collapsed and hit your head quite badly on the floor" said Robyn while removing a needle from Tori's arm and sending the blood off to be analysed, Robyn saw that she was still very confused and asked "Do you want me to get Zoe for you?".  
"Yes... please" said Tori who had now managed to sit up, Robyn left and headed towards Zoe's office.

A few minutes later, Robyn came back while explaining to Zoe what had happened,  
Zoe walked towards Tori and said "I told you so".  
Tori wasn't in the mood for joking "I know, but I thought I'd be fine",  
"Take the rest of the afternoon off and go to sit with Ellie and Blu in my office" Zoe instructed, she wasn't taking no for an answer.  
"Ok, but I'm working tomorrow no matter what" Tori said while walking in the direction of Zoe's office.

Tori arrived to see Ellie bouncing a tennis ball of the wall and seeing if Blu could catch it.  
"Hello" Ellie beamed not taking her eyes off that ball,  
"Hi Ellie, having a nice time today?" asked Tori trying to avoid being asked 'what's wrong?'.  
Ellie gave Blu the ball and sat down in one of the chairs by the desk before answering with "Yeah, thanks for letting me look after Blu, how has your day been?",  
"Well I have the rest of the afternoon off because I collapsed in cubicles" said Tori feeling now really tired.  
Ellie could see that Tori was tired and said "Go to sleep on the sofa and I'll take Blu outside for some fresh air."  
"Thanks" said Tori who was already half asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Tori woke up the next day in her bed, she looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. When she had scanned the room, she figured that someone must have carried her inside after bringing her home. Tori noticed that her IPad was on her bedside table, she picked it up, seeing that it was fully charged. She then remembered the piece of paper in her pocket, reaching into her jacket pocket, she pulled out the paper before clicking on email.

It took her a while as she wasn't used to using an IPad yet but when she had worked it out, she put in Connie's email address and tapped out a message that said 'Hi, it's Tori, who brought me home after I fell asleep at work yesterday?' she got an instant reply from Connie 'Zoe took you home, I haven't slept all night, I've been to worried about you. How are you feeling today?'. Tori smiled and sent another email that read 'You don't need to worry about me, I'll be fine also, when do I need to go to that clinic thingy? :(.'

Tori decided to get ready for work and wore a sports top and some Nike shorts as she planned on only doing paperwork because of her headache. When she was about to leave, she checked the IPad and saw a new email from Connie 'Zoe made an appointment for you to go to the clinic at 4:00 today. Just be aware that it's really boring, I suggest taking something to keep you occupied. They make you sit in the waiting room for about 2 hours'. Tori quickly sent a short goodbye email before chucking the IPad in her bag and starting the drive to work.

"Morning Zoe" Tori said as she walked into the office to get some paperwork,  
"I see someone's feeling better today" said Zoe as she was looking at Tori thinking how much better she looked.  
Tori was going to ask a question about the weight clinic when her IPad buzzed in her bag, she looked at it and just saw that it was an email from Icloud saying 'Welcome to Icloud mail... blah blah blah'.

Tori was glad that she got to do paperwork all day, most people would have hated it but she liked it because it meant that she could choose where she got to go all day. Today though, she decided to do it sat in the tree, 'weird right' she thought to herself. She chucked her bag up in the tree and climbed up using the same bar skill as the previous day. Before she knew it, the time was 12:10 and time for her break. 'Oh damn!' she thought aloud as she realised that she had once again skipped breakfast and worked all morning.

Quickly heading to get some biscuits from Honey, Tori was almost running as she knew Zoe wouldn't be pleased if she found out.  
"Hi Honey, 2 packs of biscuits please" said Tori while fumbling I her pocket trying to find the other £2 coin that she knew was in there,  
Honey looked at Tori and said "You're stressed aren't you?".  
"How did you know?" said Tori while passing Honey the £2 coin that she had now found,  
Honey passed her the biscuits then said "Still secret I'm afraid".  
Tori explained why she was stressed, the weight clinic and she was still thinking about her talk with Connie and the threatening texts. Although she only mentioned the clinic, she was still wondering about the other things.

Tori sat outside eating the biscuits when Zoe came to join her, "Hey, are you exited about the clinic?" Zoe knew the answer would be no but still asked anyway,  
Tori sighed then said "Ugh, no".  
"Well you still have to be here at 3:00" said Zoe wanting to make sure that Tori wasn't going to ditch,  
"I know, I know" Tori sighed "will you be coming with me?",  
Zoe tried to think of what she would be doing at that time before saying "Sorry, I'll be busy then and the only person who wont be busy is Connie" Zoe tried not to sound mad, she hated Connie but didn't even know why.  
Tori tried not to look happy while saying "That will have to do then", she could sense that Zoe and Connie didn't really get along.

At 3:00 Tori was waiting outside for Connie to arrive. It wasn't too long before she showed up and got Tori into her car, the drive there was very unpleasant. Tori was mad, she didn't know who she was mad at, she was just mad in general, she didn't want to got to the stupid clinic.  
Connie could see that she really didn't want to go and started thinking of things to say before deciding on something, "It's not that bad, all they do is give you more leaflets and tell you what to eat and when to exercise".  
"Can't you just turn around?" Tori asked trying not to sound too desperate,  
"No" said Connie "And besides, I'll be there so that might make it easier".  
Tori smiled and said "Thanks" but her smile quickly went back to a scowl as she saw where they were.

* * *

**A/N: the next chapter will mainly focus on what happens inside the clinic, sorry for ending it here but I thought it was a good place to end it and I didn't want it to be too long. I'm planning on making this story around 7/8 chapters :)**


	6. Chapter 6

As Tori and Connie walked into the clinic, the first thing that was noticed was the smell, it smelled like rotten eggs maybe even worse. Tori waited at the desk for the receptionist to give her the forms. As she was filling out the forms, she couldn't help but think that it was the stupidest form she had ever been asked to fill out. The questions all seemed to sound too cold hearted like 'Are you aware that your condition is slowly killing you?, please tick yes or no.' Tori knew that it was true but she would rather fall in a tank full of acid than admit it.

Just as she finished the last question, a tall, frightening looking mad in a lab coat poked his head round the door "Tori Ikezowa?". Tori and Connie got up and followed the man, "That's me" said Tori as she walked past him. The man didn't even say hello when they got into the room, he just asked her to stand on the scales, noting her weight down as 81.5 lbs. Then when he had measured her height as 64 inches exactly, he told her to take a seat next to Connie and said "For a girl your age and height, you should weigh 120 lbs at least, you weigh 81.5 which is the average for an 11 year old." Tori stayed silent, she didn't know what to say, she thought to herself 'how am I supposed to react to this?!'. Connie sensed that she was getting worried and grabbed hold of her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. The man continued "You take this leaflet home and study it. I only want you to be exercising for 30 minutes a day and since you are dangerously underweight, I want you to eat 2500 calories a day."  
The awkward silence crept its way in again for a few minutes before the man, who had seemed to develop an Indian accent in the last 5 seconds said "If you have any questions then ask away, if not then you are free to leave."  
Tori didn't even have to think about this one, "Thank you for your time, bye." she said as quickly as possible before speed walking out of the building.

Once Connie had gotten Tori back into the car, she turned to her and said "I'm proud of you, I know how difficult it is."  
Tori sat back in the seat and said "That was torture, never make me do that again."  
"You wont have to if you do what he said" Said Connie who was now speeding away from the building,  
Tori remembered the leaflet she had gotten and took it from her bag, while reading it she gasped before saying "It has the next two weeks planned out with what I should eat and exactly how much." she studied it some more before asking "What are haribo's?".  
Connie gave her a puzzled look and said "Even I know what those are, the are chewy sweets.",  
Tori thought for a while before asking another question "What are they made of?" she didn't really want to know because she knew she wouldn't eat them if it was anything that sounded fatty or disgusting.  
"Well um..." Connie hesitated as she didn't want Tori to know either, "Cow fat" she said at last, she couldn't lie to Tori as much as she wanted to.  
"And I have to eat a pack everyday?!" Tori was disgusted at this and almost threw up in Connie's car,  
Connie tried to cheer Tori up by telling her it wasn't that bad but it wasn't working, after a few minutes though, she said "Grace knows what they're made of and she loves them."  
"Grace?" questioned Tori not having the slightest clue who Grace was,  
Connie had completely forgotten that she hadn't told Tori who Grace was yet "My daughter" she said not taking her eyes off the road.  
"Oh" said Tori "How old is she?"  
"She's 7, but going to be 8 in 2 months" Connie said proudly, he had always been proud to talk about Grace.

The car ride back consisted of mostly questions from Tori and a bit of pop music to take her mind off of things. When the got back ,they were greeted by Zoe, Tori smiled even thought she wasn't really happy, although she didn't mind being the centre of attention, she really hated it when people think they knew what was best for her.  
"How was it?" asked Zoe while leading Tori into the staffroom, she was only leading her there because she knew that there was no way Connie would follow her, Zoe would never admit it but she was getting a bit jealous seeing Tori having fun with someone else.  
She got an instant reply of "Very bad" from Tori,  
Zoe thought before asking "Did they give you anything?".  
"Yeah" replied Tori before pulling the leaflet out of her bag and saying "This thing has the next 2 weeks planned out for me, its horrible. Oh and it says that I have to eat haribo's but I found out from Connie that they are made of cow fat." As she said this, she couldn't help but imagine how horrible they would taste.  
"So are you going to start this today?" asked Zoe while eyeing the leaflet.  
Tori looked at what was planned for 5:00 on Monday, "No, I think I'll start it tomorrow" she said noticing that she had to eat a BLT and a packet of haribo's,  
Zoe sighed before saying "You're starting today because today's Monday".  
Tori knew that Zoe wouldn't let her say no to this one, "Fine" she said angrily,  
"Wait here" Zoe instructed before leaving to get the food.

A few moments later, she returned to the staffroom with a BLT, a pack of haribo's star mix and a Pepsi. She gave Tori the things and returned to doing paperwork but occasionally looking up to see if Tori was actually eating the things. When the only thing left was the haribo's, Zoe told her "It will only get harder if you don't do it now."  
Tori opened the packet but got a cup of water before eating the haribo the same way that she would take a tablet, this made Zoe laugh until Tori ran to the toilets to be sick. When Tori returned to the staffroom, she found Zoe eating the rest of the haribo's, Tori was happy about this, it meant that she wouldn't have to eat them.  
"Don't tell anyone that you didn't eat them" said Zoe before adding "I've never seen someone so afraid of sweets before."  
Tori basically threw herself onto the sofa after thanking Zoe for not making her eat the sweets.

Tori jumped up in fright when her IPad buzzed in her bag, she looked at it and saw it was an email from Connie, not wanting Zoe to see, she angled the screen way from her before opening the email to find that it contained only one thing, a name 'Guy Self'. Tori wasn't sure how to reply so she just put 'What do you mean?'. It wasn't long before she got a reply that said 'I've got to go now but it was him who... you know, hit me'. Upon reading this, Tori zoned out but not before closing the email so that no-one could read it.

Minutes later, Tori felt someone grab her shoulder, she jumped back and looked at Zoe who looked really worried.  
"I've been asking you if you're ok for the past 5 minutes" she said not looking away from Tori,  
"Oh" she said "I must've been in my own little world".  
Zoe smiled at her before returning back to her paperwork, Tori wanted so badly to run out of the room to find Connie but she knew that she wouldn't bring her IPad to work so she must be at home, but this posed a problem, Tori didn't know where Connie lived.


	7. Chapter 7

Tori woke the next morning at 9:00, she had the day off and decided to have a lie in. Looking around, she spotted her bag in the corner of the room, going over to it she sent Connie an email saying 'Wanna talk?, I've got all day'. Before long, an email appeared Tori smiled when she saw that it was from Connie. She opened it to read 'I have a day off work today, Grace is at school and yeah, I'll talk.' Tori was preparing to send another email when she back-spaced it all and put 'Do you want to meet somewhere and talk or email more?', she decided to go downstairs and make brownies or at least try to.

When she had finished finding all the things she needed, Tori checked her IPad again and opened a new email that read 'Is it ok to meet at your house? (mine's a mess)'. Tori sat down on the sofa before replying with her address, she then went back to making brownies as Tuesday's breakfast was either chocolate or brownies and she thought it would be more fun to make them.

It was already 9:30 and breakfast was supposed to be at 9:00 but Tori figured that half an hour wasn't going to kill her. She was sat in the living room watching TV when she heard a knock at her front door, excitedly getting up, she opened the door and took Connie over to the sofa. Blu got really exited and started doing laps around the house.  
"Sorry about him" said Tori giving Blu a harsh look,  
Connie started stroking Blu while saying "He's so cute, I've always wanted a dog but I know I just don't have the time",  
"So about those emails..." Tori was cut off by another knock at the door.  
"I had no idea you were so popular" said Connie sarcastically,  
Tori went to open the door but suddenly slammed it again and ran to the kitchen, emerging with a knife. She went back to the sofa and tried to pretend that nothing was wrong.  
"Who was that?" asked Connie who was now slightly worries about Tori's mental health,  
Tori kept her eyes on the door while saying "An ex boyfriend, with a knife"

Neither of them knew what to do, they knew that they had to move sometime but there was a clearly visible shadow outside which could be seen from the window.  
Connie walked up to the window and stared out of it before saying "Come with me, were going to go somewhere safe",  
Tori didn't want to go, she knew it was the best thing to do but she had lost her back door key and didn't fancy jumping out of a window, "But what if he catches us?" she said still watching the door.  
Connie thought for moment before saying "I cant see any other cars outside",  
Tori hesitantly agreed, she got Blu and the knife before stopping halfway across the room and saying a loud whisper "The door is open and he knows it, so why isn't he coming in?".

Just then, police sirens could be heard outside, Tori and Connie looked out the window to see the man being arrested. Not long after they had gotten him into the car, the main police officer asked Tori some questions (although all she was focusing on was how weirdly her ex was behaving, not blinking, and just lying still), the police officer passed a note to Tori before leaving without explaining what it was. She unfolded the paper and started to read the note, she got halfway through, walked to the front door and opened it to reveal blood tracks and a knife on the pavement leading up to where the police car had been parked.  
"Oh God!" exclaimed Connie from behind her, Tori burst into tears, her house was a crime scene. Connie pulled her into a hug before Tori re-read the note, trying to make sense of it.  
'Tori Ikezowa, my girl. By the time you get this note, I will be dead and I just wanted you to know that it is all your fault. If you had just stayed with me then I would be here. I couldn't cope without you and I know that people move on but I just wished that you hadn't, I'm sorry if this makes you cry but now you will know how it feels to have your heart ripped out of your chest. Goodbye forever, my girl.' Drawn in pen in the bottom corner was a heart that had 2 letters in, T and J.

This time she wasn't crying, Tori was smiling like a maniac, she felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, she did feel bad about being happy at a time like this.  
"Why are you smiling like that?" Connie asked noticing Tori's huge smile,  
She said nothing for a while and just screwed up the note and threw it across the room "Because, I wasn't crying about him being dead before, I was crying because my house is now a crime scene. He was an abusive boyfriend, telling me I needed to lose weight all the time and saying that I should ware more make up."  
"Right" said Connie still not exactly getting why she was still smiling just like the Cheshire cat from 'Alice In Wonderland',  
"And," added Tori who was now trying to smile less "The note said it was my fault but I know it isn't really."

* * *

Zoe was finding it hard to keep up with all her paperwork, she was now regretting telling both Connie and Tori to have the day off as they seemed to be the only people who helped with paperwork. She decided to take a break and went to reception to chat with whoever she could find, but it wasn't long before she saw Grace come in holding her head as if she was going to faint.  
Zoe took her into the staffroom and asked her why she wasn't at school, her reply was "I was playing dodge ball in P.E, a ball hit me in the head, the teacher said I was going to be ok but it feels like someone keeps hitting me in the head so I ran away because no-one was listening to me." Zoe checked her over before getting an icepack and asking if Grace knew her mum's number, she said she couldn't remember it.  
"Ok, just wait here and I will get someone to ring Connie so you can talk to her" Zoe said while going to check to see if anyone actually had Connie's phone number, she managed to get her on the phone before explaining the situation then passing the phone to Grace.  
Zoe guessed that Connie was mad as she could hear every word of the call.  
"Grace, I'm not happy that you ran away from school!",  
"But mum," Grace replied "They wouldn't listen to me".  
Zoe listened to the phone call for a long time before Grace got angry and hung up.

Zoe asked Grace what she wanted to do as she knew that Connie was going to make her wait at the hospital for an hour as punishment.  
"I want to show you my cheer skills!" said Grace excitedly before adding "Mummy's always too busy and I'm a level 4 cheerleader."  
"Ok, but nothing too dangerous, your mum will kill me if you get hurt." said Zoe while pushing chairs out the way so that there was enough space, Grace showed off her best skills before looking at the clock and sitting back down and saying "Yay, it's nearly been an hour!"

Zoe couldn't help but think how weird it was for someone to punish a child, she never gave Ellie any punishments apart rom grounding her but that was normal, abandoning a child for an hour wasn't. She could see that Grace was used to it though, any other 7 year old would be crying their eyes out, not jumping around the room doing cheer tricks.


	8. Chapter 8

Zoe waited with Grace until Connie showed up, of course bringing Tori with her. When all four of them were in the staffroom, Zoe told Tori to stay with Grace for a while.  
Zoe pulled Connie out of the room and said "Don't you think that punishment was too harsh?",  
"You have no say in my personal life or what I do with my child!" Connie was now getting really angry and finding it hard not to slap someone.  
"Fine!, have it your way" said Zoe before storming off,  
"Gladly!" yelled Connie after her.

Back inside the staffroom, Grace was showing Tori her cheer tricks before noticing Connie and saying "Can we go home now please?",  
Connie was thinking about what Zoe had said to her, she didn't think it was too harsh, "Oh yeah, you don't want to be late to cheer".  
They both walked out the staffroom and Tori decided to do more paperwork, she was starting to enjoy it. Halfway through her paperwork, she decided to see where Zoe was, she checked the office first and found Zoe in there angrily scribbling on some scrap paper.  
"What are you doing?" Tori asked wondering why she seemed so angry,  
ignoring the question, Zoe asked "Why were you with _her_?".  
Tori was taken aback by this, she knew that Connie and Zoe weren't really that fond of each other but she never expected an argument about it, "Well my ex showed up at my house and killed himself on my door step",  
"Oh, sorry" Zoe was now regretting asking her that question.

After a short time, Tori asked "Why do you hate each other anyway?",  
Zoe turned to face her before saying "I don't even know".  
"Well don't let it get in the way of anything" Tori knew that it wouldn't get in the way of work but she really didn't want to have to stop being friends with anyone.  
"Its 5:00" said Zoe knowing that Tori knew what she meant,  
"Fine" Tori got up then took a cheese sandwich and a pack of haribo's out of her bag, she finished the cheese sandwich but really didn't want to eat the sweets.  
"You have to eat them this time" Zoe hated making her do this but she needed to get better,  
Tori got a glass of water and swallowed them all like tablets before saying "They taste gross!".  
Zoe laughed and said "At least you ate them this time". They both returned to doing paperwork, it needed to be done by 2 days time and only a quarter of it actually was.

At 5:30, Zoe went outside for some fresh air, it had just started snowing the day before so the air was icy and sharp. Just as she was about to go inside, she got hit with a snowball, she noticed Ellie laughing with her friend Skye across the road. Zoe picked up some snow before chucking it at Ellie and going back inside to avoid further snowballs. She was glad that Ellie was having fun but she didn't know why she wasn't with her best friend Rachel, she normally was.

Tori was waiting on the roof with a pile of snowballs next to her, she was waiting for someone to walk past the building so that she could ambush them with snowballs, she knew it was immature but she thought that she deserved to have fun because her day had been so bad. She had waited 5 minutes and no-one had walked past, she decided to just wait up there until she had to go back down. After another 5 minutes had gone by, she heard footsteps behind her and picked up a snowball before turning around to see Connie, she put the snowball down and sat on the ledge again.  
"You've got something on your coat" said Connie, Tori looked at her coat, Connie saw her chance and threw the snowball that she had hidden in her pocket.  
"Oi!" Tori picked up a snowball before throwing one back and brushing the snow out of her hair, the snowball fight continued for a while before Tori said "Truce!".

"Now, in all seriousness, what has Zoe said about me?" said Connie while wiping snow off her sleeves,  
"Nothing" Tori lied, she hated lying but the last thing she needed now was an argument.  
Connie raised her eyebrows before saying "You're a bad liar and I know that's not true",  
Tori sighed, she was a bad liar, "When I found her in her office, she was attacking a piece of scrap paper. When I asked her why she was so angry, she asked 'Why were you with _her_'.  
"Oh" said Connie, she normally wouldn't be that upset but for some reason she was this time,  
"Where is Grace?" Tori said, she wanted to change the subject as she really didn't want to talk about it anymore.  
"She's staying with her Dad for a few days, he agreed to pick her up from cheer" Connie hesitated before asking "Well, who do you like to be with?"  
Tori looked up and said almost instantly "I don't pick sides". Connie huffed and looked away.  
"But that doesn't mean that I don't like you" Tori added thinking that it would help the situation,  
"If you liked me then you'd pick a side" said Connie sarcastically before hugging Tori, she wasn't expecting a hug but it was secretly all she had wanted all day.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day at 8:00, Tori was walking by reception when Louise stopped her and said "Zoe wants you",  
"Thanks but what for?" Tori thought it was for paperwork but she just needed to check.  
"Some sort of appointment somewhere, I think" said Louise while trying to remember if it was right or not. Tori walked away, she knew this was about the weight clinic but she didn't think that she had to go until the 2 weeks were up and it had only been 1 week. She got to the office and took a seat on the sofa before asking "What is this about?",  
Zoe looked up from her paperwork and said "The clinic, you have another appointment to see how you're getting on with things, outside in 20 minutes."  
Tori crossed her arms and said "Why can't it just wait until next week?",  
"You know it can't and they might want to change the plan so no more cow fat sweets" Zoe only said this because she knew Tori wouldn't go just for a check-up.  
"Yay!" Tori exclaimed before running out the room and outside.

She had been doing 30 minutes of exercise after work but it was her break and she had to wait 20 minutes. She set her bag down on the nearest bench and did gymnastics combinations, and tumbling passes. She even got someone to say the letters of the alphabet so she could do the alphabet gymnastic challenge. She sat back down on the bench and realised that she had 10 minutes left, Tori still wanted to exercise but she knew that anymore tumbling could make her collapse again so she decided to see how long he could hold a handstand, she managed the whole 10 minutes before Zoe came out and said "Come on, you can't be late", Tori turned the handstand into a front limber, got her bag and made her way to the car.

When they arrived at the clinic, they were sat in the waiting room for 30 minutes, Tori was happy about it because it meant that she had more time before the appointment to do whatever she wanted.  
The same man as last time looked in the room and said "Tori Ikezowa", Tori and Zoe got up to follow the man and he lead them to the same room as before, they sat down and the man once again recorded Tori's weight as 110 lbs and height as 64 inches before saying "You don't need to follow the plan anymore and you can now go back to normal as long a you don't let your weight drop again".  
Tori thought before asking "Can I exercise anytime I want now?",  
The strange man said instantly "Yes but I advise that you take it slowly".  
They both walked out of the building and got in the car,  
"You can stop doing paperwork now" said Zoe while starting the car.  
"So does that mean I get to do more exiting things?" asked Tori, she really missed being able to meet new people even if she never saw them again.  
"Yes but I still have to do all that paperwork" said Zoe, she knew she would get it done on time but it was really boring.

When they got back to the E.D, Zoe did some more paperwork and told Tori to take a 10 minute break, Tori did as she was told and went outside. She started doing tumbling passes when Tess came out and said "Do you mind if I video this to show Zoe later."  
"Sure, what kind of things do you want me to do?" replied Tori, she was surprised because no-one had ever wanted to video her before.  
"Well Zoe sent me out here and asked me to film combinations, tumbling passes and flexibility", as Tess said this, she was also trying to think why Zoe wanted it on video.  
"Ok" said Tori before waiting for Tess to set up the camera and press record, she did combinations first. Her first combination was cartwheel, one arm cartwheel then side aerial, her second one was front walkover, back limber then switch front walkover. She decided to leave tumbling passes to the end and did some split variations, a close backbend then a chest stand with her feet on the floor. By now, a crowd had gathered round and people were shouting various things like 'Round-off, double back handspring, back layout!' she was wondering how people knew these things but she took some requests. Connie was watching from one of the benches and she yelled 'I know you can do better than that', it was only a tease but Tori took the challenge and did a round-off, full then a 1 1/2 and landed it perfectly before sticking her tongue out, everyone was shocked, even her when she realised that she had never actually landed that before.  
"Thanks" said Tess before disappearing inside with the camera.

Tess gave Zoe the camera and said "You were right, it was amazing", she stopped and questioned "Why do you need a video anyway?"  
"When Grace ran away from school, she was showing me her cheer tricks and she said she would like to do gymnastics too." Zoe hadn't told anyone about Grace wanting to do gymnastics, she was going to but she wanted to wait until Connie was happier to tell her.  
"But doesn't she do cheer?" Tess asked, she couldn't understand why they were two different sports, all she knew was that they did pretty much the same things,  
"Yes she does do cheer already but gymnastics is different, they have more events" Zoe was still trying to do paperwork and talk at the same time.  
"Oh" said Tess before excusing herself and walking out of the office.

Tori had been through one of her worst shifts yet, she had a black eye from a drunk woman who had started a bar fight and she had accidentally kicked a very hard table. She had gone into the toilet to get changed into a sports top and some grey Nike pro shorts as she was going straight to open gym as she hadn't actually been to the gym in 3 weeks and it was starting to bug her.  
"Going somewhere sporty?" Zoe asked when she noticed Tori's outfit,  
"Just the gym" replied Tori.  
Grace came running through the door and said to Tori when she noticed what she was wearing "Can I come to the gym?",  
Zoe quickly said "If your mum agrees and if Tori will let you".  
Grace turned to Tori and looked at her with her puppy dog eyes, Tori couldn't resist the puppy dog eyes and said "Of course you can",  
Grace smiled before running off to find her mum, she returned a few minutes later and said "Mummy said yes but I have to be back in 2 hours if that's ok".

Tori got Grace in her car and they drove to the gym, Grace went to reception and borrowed some sports clothes before asking Tori "Can you teach me some stuff on the bars or beam?",  
"Ok, which one would you like to try first?" she asked, she was happy to teach Grace things, it meant that she didn't have to practice herself all the time.  
"Beam please" said Grace before taking Tori' hand and walking towards the beams,  
Tori knew that Grace already did cheer so she said "Beam is easy, its just what you do on floor but higher up and in a straight line".  
"Can I start with something simple like a back walkover?" asked Grace,  
"Ok" replied Tori, she showed Grace how to put her hands on the beam and within 5 minutes, she could do it on the high beam with no help.  
Tori clapped and said "You're a natural, what do you want to do now?",  
"Umm..." Grace thought for a moment before saying "I've seen you do something like a cartwheel before, something that we don't do in cheer."  
Tori stepped over to the floor and did a side aerial "You mean that?" she asked, Grace nodded excitedly.

Grace was finding this one harder, "I'll help you and then you can try on your own, ok?" asked Tori.  
"Ok" said Grace before attempting it again, she made it without help, Tori thought that she would offer help but let her try on her own, even if Grace did fall, she would have caught her.  
"You did it without help, well done" said Tori,  
"Maybe I was just scared" said Grace while trying to think of something to do next, she looked around and said "Can you do things and I will try to copy them?.  
"Ok, I'll start simple then get harder" she said while deciding what to do first, she did a combination that she knew Grace could easily copy, front walkover, handstand then back limber.

They spent another hour doing that then Tori realised that they had half an hour left and asked "What do you want to do now?",  
Grace looked around and asked "Can you teach me stuff on the bars?".  
Hold on a second" said Tori before producing a pair of small grips out her bag, they had been in there ages because she brought them years ago but they never broke, Grace smiled before putting them on and getting some chalk. Tori also put chalk on her hands but didn't use grips because she was used to it, she taught Grace a full level 5 bar routine before teaching her a level 6 routine on the beam.  
Grace got changed and Tori headed to the vending machine in reception and brought 2 chocolate bars, she gave one to Grace and told her to save it for later because she didn't want to spoil her appetite.

Before driving off, Tori checked her IPad, she had an email from Connie with her address on it. She already knew where the street was so she gave Grace the IPad and said "If you want, you can play games or email someone."  
"Can I email mum?" Grace asked while fastening her seatbelt,  
"Yeah, there is already an email from her so you can just reply to it" said Tori while driving off. Grace sent an email to her mum, 'Hi mummy! we're coming home :)', she got one back almost instantly that said 'Did you have a nice time?'. Grace replied with 'Perfect, Tori taught me a level 5 bar routine, level 6 beam routine and a side aerial'. The conversation continued for a while before Tori stopped the car and said "We're here", she let Grace out and took her inside.  
"Mummy! come and watch what I can do!" Grace half said, half screamed while pulling Connie onto the garden, Grace got a plank of wood from the bottom of the garden and pulled it up to the top before jumping on it and doing her beam routine.  
"How did you learn that so fast?" asked Connie, she knew that Grace could learn things fast but usually not that fast.  
Grace smiled and said "Practice", she then turned to Tori and said "Thanks for taking me, can I go with you next week?",  
"Sure, what would you like to do next week?" Tori asked.  
Grace thought for a while before saying "Back flips but not back tucks because I hate those".

A short while later, Grace had convinced Tori to do some hard skills on the wood plank, which she insisted on videoing. Grace was thinking of challenges to do when she thought of the combination challenge, she asked Connie to say 3 random letters and she would do a skill beginning with each letter and try to make it connect. First, they both had to do L, F and B. Grace chose to do a leap, front walkover and back handspring, she challenged Tori to do the level 5 and above skills so she did layout step out, front aerial and back tuck. Grace had a really fun day and she wished that she could do gymnastics because she had already proved how good she was at it, it was just finding the right time to ask.

Just before she was about to go to bed, Grace asked "Can I do gymnastics as well as cheer?",  
"I'll think about it" said Connie, she was too tired to disagree. Grace smiled, she knew that most of the time 'I'll think about it' meant yes. At 8:30, Grace ran upstairs to bed but hardly got any sleep as she was too exited.

* * *

**A/N: I know I said 7/8 chapters but I'm going to make it more around 10/11 because my friends want me to continue it, also, this chapter is longer because I'm going to my friends house tomorrow so I wont be able to update it. Happy Halloween (almost) - . **


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning, Tori woke in a very bad mood, the dog sitter had quit because she got a better paying job somewhere else. She also had about 20 emails on the IPad and it was raining. Despite this, she got dressed and did her hair before taking Blu in the car and driving to work, she parked at the far end of the car park and opened the emails, they were all from Connie and Grace, one said 'He agreed to stop hitting me if I don't tell anyone so don't mention it', Tori found this a bit random so she sent back 'Ok, I wont :)'. Another email popped up on the screen that said 'Grace is sick so I have to bring her in with me, she has a terrible headache', she sent back 'I hope she's better soon, my dog sitter quit so I have to take Blu in'. Tori got out of her car and walked in with Blu, she took him straight to the staffroom and when she saw that no-one was in there, she told him to stay and behave. He sat on one of the chairs and fell asleep only to be woken up by someone coming in with a load of files every 2 minutes.

Tori was going with the paramedic to a forest where someone had been attacked and stabbed. "You're sniffer dog's followed you" said Tamzin while looking at Blu,  
"I told you to stay put" said Tori, Blu whined like he normally did when she told him off.  
"Why don't you bring him, he might be able to sniff out the person or even the attacker" said Tamzin while stroking Blu's head, Tori agreed and let Blu sit on her knee in the back.

When they arrived, Blu was put on a lead and given the victim's phone that they had dropped. He pulled Tori through the woods and made her go through a thick patch of trees until they got to a small opening where they found the victim was already dead, Blu sniffed their neck where they had been strangled and ran off the opposite way and then up to the top of the woods, he stopped near a big bush and silently approached it before jumping behind it and dragging out a man by the leg. The police officers arrested the man with first degree murder, the first one turned to Tori and asked "Has he been trained to sniff things out?",  
"Well not people" replied Tori before adding "I hide dog biscuits around the house and he has to find them".  
The police officer thought for a moment before saying "That dog would really help you in emergencies", The paramedics headed back as the police officers had to take the body for evidence.

When they were almost back, Tamzin asked "Can we borrow him for the rest of the day?",  
"Sure, just be aware that when he growls at you, he is going to bite" replied Tori, she was in a better mood now because she knew that it was lunch time and she had 1 hour. Tamzin took Blu to the staffroom again and gave him a treat for being so good, she was also starting to notice that she was getting attached to him. Tori was extremely bored and feeling sick, she went where she knew it would be quiet, the roof. She sat on the ledge and stared into space for a while, she stopped when she realised that someone was approaching her.  
"Why are you up here?" asked Zoe,  
"I feel sick and I'm bored" said Tori while going in her bag to find the IPad.  
Zoe thought for a while before saying "Don't pass out again, even thought you're better, it could still happen",  
"I'm fine, I'm not a child so I can look after myself" Tori said, she hated being treated like a child.  
"You're still a child to me because you're not 18" said Zoe even though she could see that it wasn't helping,  
Tori smiled "2 weeks today actually".  
"Well enjoy your last 2 weeks of being normal" said Zoe while checking the time,  
Tori gave her a confused look before asking "What's that supposed to mean?".  
Zoe was now wishing that she hadn't mentioned it, "Alcohol, drugs and smoking",  
Tori laughed and said "What makes you think that I haven't already done those?", Zoe glared at her so she said "I haven't and I don't want to either".  
"You'll change your mind sometime" said Zoe before leaving Tori in peace.

Tori was checking the IPad because she realised that she had 10 unread emails, they were all from Icloud, apple and things like that. She didn't feel sick anymore but she was still bored so she sent an email to all contacts saying 'Anyone want to talk?', she waited 5 minutes and got no answer so she put the IPad back in her bag and thought to things to do. Tori was making new snowballs to throw at people that happened to pass by when she heard someone behind her, she turned around expecting to be hit in the face with snow,  
"Just me again" said Zoe before adding "Do you want to help with paperwork?".  
"Ok" said Tori, she knew it would end up meaning a longer next break but she really didn't want to be bored, when they were both in the staffroom doing paperwork, Tori went to close the door but closed it on her thumb again.  
"Ow, I hate this door!" she yelled before getting an ice-pack,  
Zoe laughed and said "Maybe its the door that hates you",  
"Ha, ha, very funny" said Tori sarcastically while sitting back down in her seat.

"Ow!" Tori yelled, she had just gone to pick up her bag after half an hour with an ice-pack on her hand,  
"It might be broken this time" said Zoe while leading Tori away to cubicles.  
After a while of being in cubicles, Zoe said to Tori "It's fractured so you can either have a bandage or a cast",  
Tori didn't need to hesitate "There is no way I'm wearing a cast".  
"Have it your way but you wont be able to move it or pick things up for 6 weeks" said Zoe while putting the bandage on Tori's hand,  
"Yay, more paperwork" said Tori sarcastically, she liked paperwork but she would rather have a choice.  
Zoe finished putting the bandage on and said "Not necessarily, just nothing too exiting",  
Tori completely changed the topic by saying "Don't tell anyone when my birthday is".  
"Why not?, I thought everybody made a big fuss about their 18th" said Zoe, she was planning on telling everyone for something like a surprise party but that wasn't going to happen,  
"Just because..." she trailed off when she remembered why.  
Zoe knew she didn't want to tell her why but she was going to find out somehow, "Ok, I wont tell anyone but you have to tell me why",  
Tori sighed "My mum died on my 10th birthday so I hate things like surprise parties and birthday cake".  
"I thought you lived with your mum" said Zoe, no-one had mentioned it but she assumed that all children live with a parent,  
"Nope" said Tori "I live in that house that has been for sale for about 5 years now, and I live alone".  
Zoe thought before asking "What about your dad?",  
Tori had never liked talking about her dad, "He went insane after mum died so I was put in care and I moved out of the care home last year". Neither of them knew what to say next so they both returned to doing paperwork.

Later that day, Tori realised that she hadn't eaten anything at lunch, she knew that if someone found out then she would be in trouble. She decided to wait until 5:00 because she wasn't really hungry anyway, she was interrupted mid-thought by Grace.  
"Can you show me a front aerial?" she said excitedly, Tori was still meant to be doing paperwork but she agreed, she took a step back before doing a standing front aerial then sitting back down.  
"Can you teach me that on Saturday?" Grace asked excitedly,  
"I can teach you that when we go but no more bar or beam skills because I fractured my thumb" she answered while doing more paperwork. Grace still had a headache but instead of walking away, she did connected front walkovers, Tori smiled, it reminded her of when she used to do that.


	11. Chapter 11

It was 5:00 and Tori was meant to be eating something but she chose to do a few more minute of work, after the few minutes were up, she went to get her bag from the staffroom. She opened a cupboard hoping to see some food or something to drink but although the cupboard was full of plates, it was still really dusty. Tori started to cough and her eyes were watering and she realised that she might be allergic to dust before slamming the cupboard door shut.

She decided to get something from the cafeteria but had to pass almost everyone she knew to get there, she got about 20 people asking 'What's up?' and her answer was always 'Nothing, I'm allergic to dust'. She made it to the cafeteria and saw Connie there.  
"What happened to you?" Connie asked,  
Tori was starting to dislike that question a lot "I have discovered that I'm allergic to dust".  
"How have you only just found out?" she asked, after all, how could someone go nearly 18 years and never come in contact with dust?  
"Oh" Tori said "I don't know, I opened a cupboard in the staffroom and it was really dusty".  
Just then Lily walked past "You ok?" she asked, they didn't know each other that well but she asked anyway,  
"I'm fine it's just allergies" said Tori before turning to Connie and saying "If one more person asks me that question then I will be arrested for murder".  
Connie laughed and said "Well I have to go but check your emails later",  
"Ok" said Tori before getting some crisps and turning to go outside, she would have gone to the roof but she had only 15 minutes left and didn't see the point in going up there when it was so cold.

Tori was sat outside on the bench when her IPod buzzed in her bag, she opened it and saw an alarm that she didnt remember setting. It was followed by about 100 other alarms saying things like 'Guess who got the pass code right?'. She pushed the IPod back in her bag and turned it off, she finished the crisps and went to the staffroom planning to do something productive. Robyn and Noel were having some kind of fruit war when she got in there, there were banana peels everywhere and what looked like strawberry stains on the counter. Robyn hid the fruit and pretended to be civilised,  
"You're in trouble if anyone else sees the mess" said Tori while narrowly avoiding slipping on a banana peel.  
"It's just fun, want to join?" asked Noel,  
Tori looked at the work she had to do and figured she could do it at home, "Ok but what exactly are you doing?".  
Robyn smiled, "Fruit ninja, like the IPod game but in real life", Noel picked up a big knife and Robyn chucked an orange at him, surprisingly he got it but sent orange juice flying everywhere. Tori joined in, after a while, the staffroom was almost coated in red and orange stains, they all stopped the game and started reading the magazines.

The familiar sound of heels clicking down the corridor made them all jump, Robyn had only just noticed that no-one had cleaned up the mess.  
"Quick, hide!" she said as quickly as possible, Noel ran behind the door, Robyn hid behind a metal cabinet while Tori climbed into one of the empty cupboards. They heard someone come in and swear but no-one was sure who it was, they all emerged from their hiding places and started laughing before they decided to escape the staffroom and do some work.

Later that day, just as most of the staff were about to leave, Zoe called everyone over to reception, Robyn, Noel and Tori had an idea about what it was about but everyone else looked clueless. After Zoe had finished lecturing everyone about the staffroom mess, they were all told that whoever did it should own up. Nobody did so they were asked to write down the name of someone who they thought were capable of doing it, everyone then went home but had to wait to know who got the most votes. Noel, Robyn and Tori all went out after everyone else to see who they had voted for. They found out that they all voted for Lofty.  
"He's in for a shock tomorrow" said Tori before starting her car and going home. Tori got home and checked her IPad for any emails, Connie had sent her one saying 'Who made the mess in the staffroom?'. Tori didn't know what to put back that wasn't suspicious, she decided on 'I don't know, probably someone immature apparently it was pretty bad'. She didn't want to be the one to snitch but she really didn't want to blame anyone else, 'Pretty bad?! It was horrendous!'. Tori sighed, she knew the mess was horrendous 'Who do you think did it', she only sent this to see if she was suspected or not. 'Max or Lofty, they seem to be in there a lot and everyone else has enough skill to clean up a mess', Tori laughed before making an excuse to leave and doing the work she should have done earlier.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: So if you couldn't already tell, I had writers block so my friend Annie helped me with this one, we mostly wrote it together but there are some parts that I did and some that she did. *(depending on who you are) Major plot twist* - Jazz**

* * *

Tori woke up to her the alarm on her IPad, she turned it off and looked at the date, she hated today not just because it was a Monday, but this Monday also happened to be her birthday. Her dad going insane and her mum dying was bad enough but it had to happen on her birthday, 10 years old and being sent into care with no explanation or warning. With the thoughts pushed to the back of her mind, she got ready and headed to work.

Tori had 15 minutes before she actually had to work so she went to see if Blu was with Tamzin or Dixie, she knew they were in somewhere, she found them cleaning one of the ambulances and doing equipment checks. Blu ran from the ambulance to meet her, he knew it was her birthday too as she always used to get cards and presents before they moved.

Dixie nudged Tamzin and whispered "It's the birthday girl",  
"What?" asked Tori, she had heard what Dixie said but she thought nobody knew.  
"Were taking you to the pub later" said Tamzin while closing the ambulance and checking it was locked,  
Tori didn't want to make a fuss over how they knew, "Ok, thanks" she said before saying goodbye and going to find something to do.

She went into the staffroom and started messing around with her IPad, it was going to be a few weeks before she could actually do any work because of her thumb. Connie walked in with Grace and told her to sit down and stay there.  
Grace saw Tori and said "Happy birthday!",  
Tori was now wondering how everybody seemed to know, "Thanks but how do you know it's my birthday?".  
"Zoe told us" she said while desperately trying to reach some orange juice from the cupboard,  
"Oh" said Tori, she got up and got the drink for Grace.

"I hope you don't mind being a babysitter today" said Connie, she knew it wouldn't be a problem but she wanted to ask first,  
"Yeah, that's fine but why isn't she at school" asked Tori while shutting off the IPad and trying to hove it back in her bag.  
Connie shot Grace a cross look and said "She's been expelled",  
"Wow" said Tori before turning to Grace and asking "What did you do?",  
Grace folded her arms and said "The teachers said I behaved too badly and I caused too many distractions in lessons".  
Connie left the room, giving Grace a harsh glare a she did so.  
Tori waited until she knew no-one could hear them and said to Grace "You can move now",  
"I'm bored, can we play a game?" Grace said while looking around for something to do.

A while later Grace had convinced Tori to make a cup of tea with her eyes closed, it ended up being milky water with soap and salt in it.  
"Drink it" said Grace knowing that Tori would,  
Tori drank some of the tea but then asked "Ew, what was in that?".  
Grace didn't tell her what was in it, instead she said she wanted to play a different game, Tori got her to play on her IPad for a while because they couldn't actually think of a game to play.  
"Can we play dares?" asked Grace once she had finished her game of angry birds,  
"Fine" said Tori "But only if I go first".  
Grace agreed and turned off the IPad, Tori thought of a lot of bad dares before saying "Wait, turn the camera on and take secret pictured of as many people as you can but not patients or you'll get told off".

"Ok" Grace left and went outside, she had already passed reception and taken a very un-flattering photo of Louise. She hid around the corner outside and waited until she heard someone come outside, Ethan and Cal came out in mid-conversation.  
"Don't ask her, it's a bad idea" said Ethan, Grace turned the camera onto record and pointed it towards them,  
"Why not" Cal whined, "I'm really serious about it".  
Ethan gave him a surprised look and said "But you're never serious about anyone",  
Cal got up and started to walk away, "I really like her".  
"Just find someone who thinks it's a good idea before you do anything stupid" Ethan called after him,

Grace returned to the staffroom and showed Tori the video and explaining "I only got one photo but I found out something way more interesting",  
"Who do you think he likes?" asked Tori, she didn't expect Grace to know but it was worth a shot.  
"I don't know" said Grace "But I'm going to find out",  
"How exactly?" asked Tori just as Lily walked in the room and started filling out some sort of report.  
Grace looked at Tori and shook her head, she also put her hand near her mouth and whispered "Not her",  
"What's not me?" asked Lily, Grace wasn't exactly the best at whispering.  
"You're worse at whispering than me" said Tori before trying to think of an explanation,  
"Somebody likes somebody else but it's not you" said Grace while doing her best innocent smile.  
"Who likes who?" asked Lily, she still didn't believe the story but she thought it was a reasonable excuse,  
Tori looked at Grace who nodded.  
"Can you keep a secret?" asked Tori, she knew that no matter what everybody said 'Yes' to that question,  
"That depends on who's secret it is but you're going to tell me anyway" Lily knew she was the worst secret keeper in the world but she figured that because Tori, Grace and someone else already knew then it wasn't much of a secret.  
"Cal likes somebody" said Grace, she had always liked to tell secrets,  
"Impossible" said Lily, "Next time you're going to talk about somebody, plan a better excuse for when they hear you".  
Tori got out the IPad and showed Lily the video "See, it's true",  
"Wait here" said Lily before abandoning her report and walking out of the room.

She returned a while later with Ethan, she showed him the video and said "Tell us who he likes",  
"I'm sworn to secrecy and you do know that's an invasion of privacy?" he said while attempting to keep the secret.  
"Ok" said Tori, "We'll find out some other way and calling it an invasion of privacy makes it sound way worse than it is".  
Grace thought about how she was going to find out, she left the room saying "I'm just going to get someone",  
"I'm not staying for anymore of your interrogations and I'm also telling him you know" said Ethan before leaving and going to find Cal, he saw Grace leading Cal towards the staffroom, he walked towards them and said to Cal "They know about you liking someone".  
"They?" questioned Cal before he was dragged into the staffroom,  
"Tell us who you like" said Grace when she had closed the door behind them.  
Cal sat down and said "No, how do you even know I like someone?",  
"We'll tell you that when you tell us who" said Tori, she knew it was evil but it was the only option for her.  
"That's blackmail" said Cal then added "And what ever you do, I'm not telling you",  
"Send it to all contacts" said Lily, she was surprised at how much she liked being some what evil.  
Cal looked at the contact list and said "No, there is no way you're sending that video to everybody",  
Tori started getting closer to the send button, she wasn't actually going to send it but she knew Cal would panic and tell them.  
"Ok" said Cal, "I like..." he trailed off as he heard someone coming closer, Honey walked past and waved at them through the window, "I like Honey" Cal lied,  
"Put your hand on the screen and say it" said Tori, she didn't believe that Cal liked Honey.  
He did as he was told and the word 'LIAR' shot onto the screen,  
"Who do you really like?" asked Grace, she already knew he was lying.  
When Cal refused to answer Tori locked the door and said "Lets try it another way then", she adjusted the app so it could tell by voice if the statement was true or false.

After a long debate, Cal had agreed to answer some questions.  
"Does the person you like have brown hair?" asked Lily, she knew it wouldn't eliminate many people but it was a start,  
"Yes" said Cal while regretting agreeing to answer the questions.  
"He's not lying" said Tori when the word 'TRUE' came onto the screen,  
Grace got the IPad and asked Cal "Is she tall?".  
Cal thought about it for a while and said "how tall is classed as tall?",  
"Tall compared to other members of staff" said Tori, she was going to name a height but she figured that this way would be more useful.  
"Tall-ish" said Cal, still unsure of what would be classed as tall,  
Lily was going to ask more questions but she knew that if Cal didn't do some work soon then he would be in trouble "You can leave now".  
Cal ran out the door while Lily got on with her report, Tori told Grace to stay in the staffroom while she went to find a tall woman.

She went around looking at everyone and trying to see who looked tall-ish, she got a piece of tape from Louise and stuck it on the wall slightly above how tall she was.  
"Zoe! come here!" she yelled when she had stuck it on properly,  
"What?" asked Zoe, she thought it was about everyone knowing about Tori's birthday.  
"Well two things now" said Tori when she remembered about her birthday, "I'm mad at you and stand there" she said while pointing to the wall.  
Zoe stood against the wall and Tori noticed that she was only slightly above the secret tape, "Ok you can move now",  
"I know why you're mad at me but everyone needs a happy birthday" said Zoe while hoping that Tori had changed her mind about being mad.  
"I'm not mad now but I know something that would make today a happy birthday" said Tori, all she really wanted to know was who was classed as tall-ish,  
"What's that?" asked Zoe while walking towards the staffroom knowing that Tori would follow her.  
Tori thought about how to phrase the question before deciding on "Who's tall-ish?",  
"What's tall-ish?" said Zoe when they had both gotten to the staffroom.  
Tori got a pencil out her bag and made a light line on the wall, only because she would need to rub it off later "Who's around 3cm above that line?",  
"That's specific, but I don't know" said Zoe before making a random excuse to leave.  
"Zoe's not tall-ish" said Grace once she knew they were alone again,  
"Who is then?" asked Lily, it was really bothering her now because usually she didn't find other people's personal lives so interesting.  
Tori thought about it for a while and said "Maybe we should leave it for today", Lily and Grace agreed and they all returned to doing something to occupy themselves.

When it was almost the time that everybody would be heading over to the pub, Grace had run out of games to play and didn't want to sit being bored for around 45 minutes.  
"Do you think I'll be allowed to stay at my grandma's house for a while?" she asked, not really to an particular person,  
"Maybe" said Tori who was now also very bored.  
Grace got her phone out of her pocket, Tori was surprised mainly because it was an IPhone 5S but also because she realised that Grace could have played on her phone instead of being bored.  
"Hello? Grandma?" asked Grace once she had gotten her grandma on the phone, they talked for a while longer before Grace got her stuff and went to tell her mum she was leaving with her grandma.

After Grace had left, Tori was extremely bored, she needed someone to talk to and everyone seemed to be busy.  
Connie came into the staffroom to thank Tori for being a babysitter for the day, she leaned against the wall and complained about how she never would have coped with Grace today before leaving.  
When she had left Tori looked over to Lily who had just finished whatever she had been doing, "Did you see that?" she asked.  
"What?" asked Lily, all she was aware of was someone coming into the room then leaving again,  
"Connie's tall-ish" said Tori while thinking about what to do to see if she was right.  
"Set up the lie detector thing again" said Lily before going to find Cal or Ethan.

She returned in a few minutes with Ethan, "Do you know who Cal likes?" she asked already knowing the answer.  
"Yes, but it's a secret" said Ethan while wishing Lily had found Cal and not him,  
"He's telling the truth" said Tori when she checked the screen.  
Ethan exhaled loudly and asked "Can I leave now?",  
"One more question" said Tori, she knew that even if she was wrong it was still one step closer.  
"Is it Connie?" said Lily, she hoped it was just because the situation was getting really annoying.  
Ethan stayed silent for a while then said "No",  
"You can leave now" said Tori before checking the screen and seeing the word 'LIAR' written on it.

When Ethan had left, Tori said "He was lying",  
"What do we do about it?" asked Lily before she started doing another report.  
"You heard Ethan, it's supposed to be secret" Tori considered what to do because she knew that she wasn't going to leave it until she was satisfied,  
"Fine" said Lily then added "Just do something about it before I do because whatever I do will most likely be the wrong choice".

Tori walked out of the staffroom and found Cal outside, he looked like he was thinking about something.  
"I know who you like" announced Tori while she sat net to him on the bench,  
"Don't tell anyone" said Cal, he assumed she had got it right.  
After a short silence he proceeded to ask "How do you know I like Connie?",  
"Ethan is a rubbish secret keeper" she said then asked "So are you going to do anything about it?".  
"If you do me a favour first and find out which flowers she likes" said Cal, he knew it would be look suspicious if he asked,  
"Ok but when I do you're going to do something about it or me and Lily will", Tori headed back inside and went to find Connie.

Tori found her in the office she shared with Zoe, "So, I need to plant some new flowers in my garden an I was wondering if you had a favourite flower?" when Tori said this, she thought it was the worst fake story ever.  
"White roses but why do you want my opinion on your garden?" asked Connie while looking through the 30 unread emails on her computer,  
"Because nobody else was any help" said Tori, she checked the time on the computer then said "I have to go and um... help Lily with something".

Tori went outside and found Cal still on the bench, "First of all, I think I should get paid for this and second of all, white roses".  
"I'm not paying you but thanks" said Cal, now all he had to do was plan how to ask her to dinner, "One more favour?" he asked hopefully.  
"What now?" Tori asked, she knew what ever it was would be hard to find out because she already looked suspicious enough,  
"Find out if she likes lasagne" said Cal then added "I'll be in the staffroom".  
"How exactly?" asked Tori, "I already look suspicious because of my fake garden story",  
Cal thought about it then said "I'll pay you and just ask, it wont be that suspicious".

Cal headed to the staffroom while Tori tried to decide on a cover story for this one, she went in to the office and said "I'm going to get to the point, do you like lasagne?",  
"Why?" asked Connie, the email count had gone down but she was still frustrated.  
"Because... I was playing dares with Grace before she left and she dared me to ask someone random questions" said Tori, she knew this cover story was better but she hated looking suspicious,  
"Yes, I like lasagne and don't go anywhere this time" she said when she saw that Tori was going to go somewhere again.  
"Why not?" asked Tori, she had been bored all day but now she really needed to go to the staffroom,  
Connie logged off the computer and said "Follow me".

Tori did as she was told and ended up on the roof "Why are we here?" she asked, she could see no point in it as it was below freezing.  
"Because it was fun when we talked up here" said Connie while sitting down on the wall and making a snowball,  
"You do realise that was like one time?" Tori asked, she then proceeded to ask "Is something wrong?".  
Connie exhaled loudly and said "Everything's so annoying, Grace being expelled, the amount of work that has been dumped on me and just everything in general",  
"Well I know how it feels when everything seems to collapse on top of you but it'll be ok" she said while taking a seat next to Connie.  
"I know but I just feel so lonely and I'm officially a failed mother", when Connie said this Tori smiled, she knew she wouldn't feel lonely much longer,  
Tori decided to try and cheer Connie up, "You know if you stand on this wall you can probably see my house".  
They both stood up and Tori did the 'Saved your life' trick then said "I always get my revenge",  
"We have to go now, did you know Zoe invited everybody to the pub" said Connie when she realised they had to leave in 5 minutes.  
Tori walked away first but got hit with a snowball, "Very mature" she said while walking towards the door,  
"That was my revenge on your revenge" said Connie then she hit Tori with more snow.  
"And that one?" asked Tori once she had gotten the snow out of her hair,  
"Fun" said Connie while making her way down the stairs.


	13. Chapter 13

When Tori and Connie were both ready to leave, they caught up with everyone else and set off for the pub. Around halfway there, Max got his phone out an attempted to make a funny video, he started filming Tori and asked "Are you double jointed?",  
"Why do you want to know?" asked Tori, she knew she was but she didn't usually tell people.  
Because it's funny when people get freaked out by it" said Max while secretly pointing at Robyn, Tori took off the gloves she was wearing and managed to bend only the top part of her fingers.  
"Robyn!" Max shouted, "Look at this!",  
Robyn turned around but then squealed and ducked away "Don't do that!" she said while walking at a faster pace.  
The fuss had managed to get most peoples attention and more people were getting freaked out.

"How come you never told me about this?, it might have been fun to scare people" said Zoe while everyone else was laughing at Robyn's reaction that had been caught on video.  
"I don't know and anyway I could teach you" said Tori, although it sounded weird teaching someone how to be double jointed,  
"You can't teach it" said Zoe while wondering how it was possible to teach something you have to be born with.  
Tori put the gloves in her bag and said "I taught myself when I was 9, my friend could do it and I wanted to impress her",  
"I still say you can't teach it" said Zoe as she thought that it was still impossible.  
"Hold out your hand" said Tori while brushing the rest of the snow off her head, Zoe did so Tori proceeded to say "Just do it slowly and you'll eventually do it".  
"This is ridiculous" said Zoe after a while of failing, "How long did it take you?",  
"2 weeks" said Tori while trying to stop the snow getting on her head, she hadn't expected it to snow until at least the 20th but it started snowing on the 13th.

Once everyone was sat down, they all started talking, mostly about stupid jokes. After around 10 minutes, Cal looked at Tori and tried to get her attention, he desperately needed the answer to his previous question. Tori noticed after a while and nodded, she returned to her conversation with Robyn which was a very quiet conversation about the 'mystery' staffroom mess.

The entire pub went silent when a tall man walked in, knocking over a chair as he did so. He looked around for a while before asking "Is there anyone here by the name of Victoria Johanna Ikezowa?",  
Tori looked away and told everyone to say no,  
Connie laughed and said "Your full name is Victoria Johanna Ikezowa?".  
"Yes but shut up about it" said Tori while trying not to make eye contact with the man,  
"Please" he begged, "Somebody tell me where I can find my daughter".  
A previous patient heard the man and said "She works at the hospital over there" while pointing out the window,  
"I checked there a few minutes ago and someone told me she was in here" said the man while walking further in the door. He spotted the group from the hospital and said "I know you don't want to see me but I missed you and we always used to go for long walks in the snow on your birthday",  
Tori continued to look away but the man edged closer and grabbed her wrist, he tried to take her outside but failed.  
"Get off me!" she yelled before going outside and walking back to the hospital, she sat on a bench outside and watched her dad drive away until the car was no more than a dot.

For a few minutes she was hoping no-one would follow her but she saw Zoe walking towards her, they sat in silence for a while before Tori asked "You want to know what that was about don't you?".  
"No but you can tell me if you want to" said Zoe while sitting down on the bench,  
"My dad was sent to a mental hospital on my 10th birthday, we always used to go for long walks on my birthday before then" said Tori while leaning her back against the wall.  
"It's too cold to stay out here" said Zoe after a short while,  
Tori laughed and said "read this" while showing Zoe an email from Connie that said 'It's cold so if you're still outside make sure your whore face is covered up'. Tori thought it was hilarious and she sent back 'Thanks...', after a while, she got a reply saying 'Sorry, I meant your whole face, stupid typo'.  
"That's got to be the worst typo ever" said Zoe while leading Tori inside.

They got to the staffroom and talked for a while before Tori got her email open again and replied to the already open conversation with 'I'm in the staffroom, if you're coming to find me'. After 5 minutes of waiting around, Tori and Zoe were joined by Lily, Connie and Cal. Cal handed Tori a piece of paper with an email address on it, she put it in her contacts and typed 'What?', she got a reply from Cal saying 'Any ideas?'. Tori was still confused so she sent back 'About what?'.  
"Are you just texting each other from opposite ends of the room?" asked Lily while trying to see what they were doing,  
"It's a secret" said Tori, she was almost certain Lily knew which secret she meant. Lily looked over Tori's shoulder and read the reply of 'Anything sweet or romantic', she typed back 'What about 100 reasons why you like her or flowers or something like that'.  
"Why can't we know the secret?" asked Zoe trying to sound offended even though she wasn't,  
"Because it's secret" said Cal while closing down the emails.  
Connie tried to look at Tori's IPad but it was already turned off "Fine, I'll just secret email Tori and see what you think of that",  
"You don't even have a secret" said Tori before sitting down as she had been stood in the corner so that nobody could see the screen. She got an email that said 'Tell me the secret', she typed back 'I can't or it won't be secret', this did seem stupid as more than one person already knew.

After the secret business has been forgotten, it was more normal chat and gossip,  
they had all been talking for a while when Tamzin came in "Can I talk to you for a minute?".  
Tori walked outside with Tamzin and asked "What's up?",  
"Here" said Tamzin, producing a bottle of vodka, "But don't drink it all tonight of you'll know about it in the morning".  
"Thanks" said Tori before giving her friend a hug and watching her leave, she went back inside and put the drink in her bag before sitting back down.

Later, at Tori's house, she wasn't coping very well with what had happened earlier. She was sat downstairs at 11:40 and she was already halfway through the bottle of vodka. She had already ignored several emails as she could no longer see properly, she felt herself getting heavy and knew she was going to pass out but she managed to grab a blade off the counter that she had been thinking about using. She walked over to the sofa, slashing at her wrist while she did so but she only made it halfway before she collapsed.

10:00 the next day, Tori still wasn't at work which meant she was 2 hours late. Connie had offered to go and get her or at least see where she was, she got there and knocked on the door. There was no answer so she tried to find a hidden spare key somewhere, when Connie discovered there was no spare key outside, she put her hand through the letter box and opened the door from inside using the key that had been left in there. She walked over to where Tori was lying on the floor and checked her over before deciding to wait until she woke up.

"What happened?" asked Tori when she was fully awake and able to get up,  
"You recovered from that quickly" said Connie before getting Tori to sit on the sofa.  
Tori noticed the blood on her wrist and covered it with her coat, "I've already noticed" said Connie, she guessed it wasn't the first time either.  
"What time is it?" asked Tori who quickly wanted to change the subject,  
"10:30" said Connie before adding "You could have the day off if you want".  
"No, I'd better not" said Tori "If it's 10:30 then I'd better get ready",  
Just as Tori was about to go upstairs Connie said "You can talk to me about anything you know?".  
"Thanks" said Tori who knew she probably would later, she went to get ready and got a lift from Connie while doing her hair on the way.

"You're not dead" said Zoe in a joking way when Tori and Connie came in,  
"Almost" said Connie while Tori went to get some reports to fill out.  
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Zoe, if you're almost dead then you wouldn't be walking around and there were no 'almost dead' jokes.  
"Never mind" said Connie before walking away to get some work done, she also knew it wasn't her secret to tell.

Tori hid in the staffroom for most of that day, she didn't really want to talk to anyone.  
"Guess what?" said Cal coming in and dumping a load of paper on the counter,  
"What?" asked Tori who couldn't actually be bothered to guess.  
"I've put a note on her desk, and 100 white roses to go with 100 reasons why I like her" said Cal while he checked the time on his phone,  
"Nice plan" said Tori, she now wanted to talk but she figured it didn't matter who she talked to.  
Cal started walking away and said "Keep everyone else away from the roof for 30 - 40 minutes",  
"Ok" said Tori, even though she knew she was the only one who went up there.

After Tori had done most of her work and messed around for a bit, Louise found her and said "You're looking after Grace again today, her grandma dumped her here again".  
"Fine" said Tori as she realised she didn't have much of a choice, Louise disappeared then came back with Grace.  
"Can I play on your IPad?" asked Grace once Louise had left, Tori closed her app and handed the IPad to Grace, she then started doodling on a random piece of paper.  
"How can you do that?" asked Grace when she was finished on the IPad, Tori looked in the same direction as Grace and noticed that she had dislocated her shoulder, she did it a lot without noticing.  
"I'm double jointed" said Tori while getting her shoulder normal again,  
"What else can you do?" asked Grace, she had never seen anyone who was double jointed before.  
"I can lock my hands behind my back and bring them over my head without letting go of my hands" said Tori, she used to scare people by doing this as it required her to temporarily dislocate both of her shoulders.  
"I don't believe you" said Grace while trying to do it but finding that it was impossible,  
Tori got up and did it, "What about now?" she asked.  
"I've got an idea" said Grace, she was bored and needed something fun to do.  
"What?" asked Tori while putting her IPad away and sitting back down,  
"Go and show people how you can dislocate your shoulder, it'll scare them to death" said Grace while imagining how people would react.

A short while later, Tori and Grace were sat in Zoe's office just watching her do work, Grace gave the thumbs up signal they agreed on and Tori dislocated her shoulder then put it back in place several times using only the muscles in her arm.  
"Oh my god, don't do that!" Zoe screamed which caused Grace to erupt with laughter,  
"You said it would be funny to scare people" said Tori, it was funny to scare people but sometimes people got very mad.  
"Well don't scare me" said Zoe before adding "Go and scare Max",  
Grace pulled Tori out of the room and said "Ok".  
When they had found Max, Tori tried to scare him but it failed, "If you want to scare me then try harder" he said while going back to his work.

"Got any scarier tricks?" asked Grace once they had gone outside and sat on one of the benches,  
"Yes, quite a few actually" said Tori when she remembered the things she used to do all the time.  
"What like?" asked Grace, she thought it was really cool while other people were easily scared, Tori stood up and bent her thumb all the way back to her wrist.  
"That's got to be the weirdest thing ever" said Grace while trying and failing at it,  
Tori thought about what else she could do and said "It's nothing really", she put her hand on the bench and rotated it all the way around before lifting up her arm and licking her elbow.  
"Can you teach me to do cool stuff like that?" said Grace when she realised that it would be useful for revenge,  
"Lock your fingers and just hold it for a while then just bend the top parts" said Tori, although this was something you needed to be born with, she knew it was teachable to most people but just that one.  
"Grace, your grandma's back, she said she wants you to stay at her house for a few more days" said Louise when she had finally found them outside. Grace left with her grandma and Tori figured she should be doing work so she went inside and got some random paperwork to do.

When she was halfway through she decided to take a break and tried to entertain herself by going on her IPad,  
Robyn walked in and said "Don't do any weird stuff" to Tori.  
"Like this?" she replied while pushing her thumb back to her wrist,  
"How is that even possible?" asked Robyn "It's like your bones bend two ways!".  
"That's pretty much what it is anyway" said Tori,  
Robyn sat down with Tori and asked "How do you do it?".  
"I just know how to move each bone separately in my hands and my shoulders and knees are just weird I guess" she said while trying to see if she could control her knees, she discovered she couldn't so gave up.  
"What do you do to your knees?" asked Robyn who had suddenly become curious about the subject,  
Tori put her hand on one side of her knee and moved it all the way out to the other side "Even I find that one scary".


End file.
